Improvement in trusses



To all whom'it may concern WILLiAM JAMESv SMITH, or TREVILLIANsVIRGINIA, AssIeNon To HIM SELF AND GEORGE W. MAY, 0F SAME PLACE.

Letters .Patent No. 103,516, dated .May 24, 1870.

IMPROVEMENT IN TRUSSES.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making paltof thename.

Be it known that I, WILLIAM J Mns SMITH, of

'lrevillians, in the county of Louisa and State of Vir-- ginia, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in '.lruss; and I do herebydeclare that the following is a full and exact description of the same,reference being' had tothe accompanying drawings and to the let tels ofreference marked thereon.

This invention relates to that class of trusses which are provided withadjustable pressurepads, and consists in the employment of abutton-screw upon the truss proper, in. connection with teeth-or cogsupon the rear end of the hinged arm supporting the pad, for the purposeof enabling the truss to be easily and accurately adjusted by thepatient to suit the requirements of his case.

The details of` construction will be fully described hereinafter;A y lI'n the drawings- Figure 1 represents a perspective view of Vmy improvedtruss, and i Figure 2,a side elevation of a portion detached. To enableothers skilled in the art to'make and use my invention, I will nowproceed tol describe fully its .construction and manner of operation.`

A represents a Vsuitable curved metallic strip, to

which is attached, by means of set-screws, the slotted end piece B.

O represents a slotted arm, which is attached to the piece B by means ofa hinge-joint, as shown.

E represents the pad, which is secured to the arm` C by means of thescrew c.

The rear Vend of the armC, it will be observed, is

provided with teeth or cogs, with which .the buttonscrew 7), locatedupon the piece B, engages.

The operation 'is as follows:

By means of the slot in the piece B, and the setscrews which secure itto the strip A, the length of the truss can be adjusted at will.

y By means of the slot iu the arm C, and the screw which secures the padto it, the relative distance of thefpad from the piece B can also hechanged when desired. v

By means of the hinged arm C, and its teeth c, and the bntton-screw b,the position of' the pad audits pressure may be nicely adjusted to suitthe requirements of' the case. This is accomplished, it will be readilyunderstood, by simply revolving the buttonscrew, the threads of whichengage with the teeth c', and cause them to rise or fall, according tothe direction in which the screw is. revolved. This movement of theteeth causes the front endof the arm, which is, in fact, the long arm ofa lever, to be moved in the opposite direction.

As the slightest movement of the screw will cause the pad to' advance orrecede, it is manifest that very nice adjustments canbe made by thisdevice.

- The truss, as a whole, is simple .in all its parts, and

not liable to get out of order. It is also well'adapted for the purposesfor which it is intended.

I do not claim the .manner of adjusting the truss proper by means of aslot and set-screws; perdo I claim, broadly, the employment of a screwfor the adjustment of a pad; but, l

Having thus fully described my invention,-

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Let ters Patent, is l In atruss of substantially the described construction, the button-screw bupon the piece B, in combination with the teeth c uponv the pad-arm C,when the parts are arranged as and for the purpose described.

This specification signed and witnessed this 27th day of' April, 1870.

WILLIAM J. SMITH.

Witnesses:

I. W. VALENTINE, C. VALENTINE.

